President Donald Trump is expected to make headway on two pressing issues this week while meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea: tariffs and TikTok.
During a Sunday interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks between the US and China were progressing. He said the additional 100% tariff on China that President Donald Trump threatened earlier this month, and which was supposed to take effect on November 1, is now “effectively off the table.”
Bessent is traveling with Trump during a nearly weeklong tour in Asia, which also includes stops in Malaysia and Japan.
“I’m not going to get ahead of the two leaders who will be meeting in Korea on Thursday, but I can tell you we had a very good two days,” Bessent said, referring to his own meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. “So I would expect that the threat of the 100% has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime.”
During a separate interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Bessent said China and the US have reached a “substantial framework” for trade negotiations.
“The president had given me maximum leverage when he threatened 100% tariffs if the Chinese imposed their rare earth global export controls, so I think we have averted that,” he said.
Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative, echoed Bessent’s remarks while talking to reporters in Malaysia on Sunday.
“We are moving forward to the final details of the type of agreement that the leaders can review and decide if they want to conclude together,” Greer said, The New York Times reported.
On Sunday, Bessent also told “Face the Nation” that Trump and Xi could push through a TikTok deal when they meet on Thursday.
“We reached a final deal on TikTok,” Bessent said. “We reached one in Madrid, and I believe that as of today, all the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two leaders to consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea.”
ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, is expected to sell the platform’s US-based assets in response to a 2024 divest-or-ban law. A group of companies and investors is expected to take over the popular social media app’s US operations. Trump earlier said that Larry Ellison and his company, Oracle, would be involved in the deal alongside Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell. ByteDance is expected to maintain a minority stake.
Representatives for the White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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